nihonto1001

I recently found a nice suriage sword with leather covered saya. I purchased the sword without knowing the kanji because the hamon looked well executed. I later translated it as Fujiwara Sadayuki. The mei and blade characteristics match one that I found on the internet, who was also referred to as Fujiwara Takata, named so because of his "splendid" hamon. Turns out this Fujiwara Sadayuki is a rare smith. He is listed in the Toko Taikan on pg 264. Unfortunately, since I do not have the Toko Taikan, I dont know what it says. I will post pics soon. If anyone has the Toko Taikan and would not mind, I would be interested in hearing what it has to say about this Sadayuki. This blade may be a good candidate for restoration. Any help/opinions would be greatly appreciated. Jon

From the looks of the nakago, I am going to go with much older than shin-shinto, possibly even muromachi period. Is that crab claw hamon I see? Jon

OK, we know it was slow. But there must have been some highlights. Any Pics??? Jon

Regarding the seeming waning interest in Nihonto. Maybe the whole girl jumping out of the cake thing would work at bringing in more newbies. It might not be the crowd we want handling our art though. I remember seeing some of the the Iaido guys in Chicago, the year before, getting schooled on the proper way to draw a real sword from a collector. I have had to correct people at my table for mis-handling/damaging swords. I fear the wrong advertising might draw in the wrong crowd, maybe drug dealers looking for a new toy, or whatever. Sounds extreme? Go check out a Florida gun show. I feel that new collectors need to be cultivated individually. The best thing we can do for our hobby is to shadow a few worthy interested. After being robbed by Tom Schneider, that is what kept me from giving up on collecting. By the way his website?: http://www.japanesesword.de/?site=&lang=en. It has the same contact address as Tom Schneider and signs his email Thomas. Seems clear to me. As collectors and dealers, we need to exterminate the rats from the community before we can expect increasing interest. They are stealing from us, if not directly, indirectly, by destroying the future market base. I guess we each have a vocation to our hobby, in the same way that many ancient craftsmen worked separately, but collaborated on one finished sword. Jon

Mark Green: Those daisho tsuba are interesting. Are they papered? Jon

Thanks for posting. Just an interesting observation, it seems like our favorite wakizashis have something that make them stand out. Whether it is unique sugata, hamon or horimono, it is something different from the pragmatic beauty of a daito. I have found proof that my Kaifu Wakizashi is better than a Masamune. If nothing is better than a Masamume and a Kaifu Wakizashi is better than nothing, then there you have it. Jon

Here's mine: Attributed as den Kaifu. It's my favorite because of it unique sugata, a combination of katakiriha and shobu zukuri. The jihada is incredible, lending itself to an active sugaha hamon. Hopefully, the pics show this. Jon

I just wish there was something more that could be done to expose the scammers. They are ruining our hobby by taking it to the newbies. I'd gamble, most collector's first nihonto research and purchases are done on ebay, where many get taken and lose interest (and go back to sports cars, motorcycles and mistresses). Jon

Strange, maybe the work of the Tokugawa? Jon

Ha. I just saw it. I knew there would be something on NMB about it. You guys are fast. Big difference in the Jigane too, heh. With the other ebaymune's I have seen, they usually start the bidding low (within reach). The sad part is they usually bid up, way over the swords true worth. We, as humans, are an interesting lot. Jon

Barry, Here is a picture of shirake utsuri on a Muromachi Mino blade. Jon

Much appreciation to Reinhard and Nobody. Thank You, Jon

If anyone is interested in helping out a student of the hobby, I have enclosed a photo of a sayagaki for a Late Nambokuchu Yasuyoshi. I think it is Nidai Yasuyoshi from Nagato to which it is referring. I did much of the translation, but I am missing a few things: 1. In the second column, the 2 kanji above NAMBOKUCHU and below what I believe to be EIWA (1375). 2. The kanji just under YASUYOSHI in the second column. 3. In the first column, the line after what I believe to be Akishimi. I think it starts HA NAGASA... I am actually surprised I got as far as I did with the Kanji Pages and sword ads. Great reference. Thanks, Jon

Yitsy: If you call or message Ebay they will probably refund your money. In my opinion, for whatever it is worth, the best thing that could happen to Nihonto is having ebay ban it. Fraud is hurting our hobby more than anything else. Jon

I knew I should have taken a camera... The show was fun as a vendor. But, it probably would have been even better as a spectator, because I would have been able to check things out more. I did get a chance to see some great pieces including a Sa tanto, Juto Tametsugu, Juto Rai Kunitoshi. I also got a chance to see the Bitchu Tameie Wak on Darcy's site: http://www.nihonto.ca/tameie/index.html; an awe inspiring piece. The Tametsugu was my personal favorite though. Of course, I did not get a chance to see the Kaneuji Daito in the NBTHK meeting. I heard it looked like a Massamune. Overall, I am happy that I went. It was a good time and it was nice to see friends. Jon

There is at least one juyo token Tegai Kanenaga with maximum 6mm thickness at the shinogi near the habaki. It does not look like it was ever much wider judging by the maximum thickness of the nakago (about 1.5mm more). Some smiths worked with thin kasane, such as Miike Mitsuyo, perhaps to make the blade lighter. Maybe some Tegai smiths worked in this way too. An interesting question indeed. Jon

Thanks for the info! I saw a very large version of this tsuba without the rim. Andy Quirt had it some time ago. I wish I kept better records. This one is wakizashi size. Jon

Here is another item I plan to sell in Tampa. I need help with its identity, whether or not it is a decent tsuba...so I can represent it with integrity. Your opinions would be greatly appreciated and respected. Jon

I am going to be putting this wakizashi size fuchi up for sale. I am looking for info on it so I can represent it with confidence. I found a very similar Tsuba in the "Arms and Armor of Ancient Japan" publication (in pics,#105). Any info you can give me on it will be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Jon

Lammi, thanks for your interest. The guy to ask about the Kanabo school is Gordon Robson. His research has done much to elevate the general opinion of this group of smiths. When I got a chance to speak with Gordon, he said that the Kanabo School operated right into the early shinto period. So, there are probably more than 3 generations of smiths that signed Masatsugu (among others). I did not know this before. Here is an interesting site that will give you a better understanding. http://www.japaneseswordcollector.com/ If I get a table at the FLTK, this set will be available for viewing. Jon

Barry, Very nice. Jon

Sounds like ebay BS to me. It is probably the guys friends bidding, like when you see an item just posted with 12 bids and 5 days to go. Jon

Shan: I don't know much about this tsuba, but will be sorry to see you go. I hope you are not getting out of Nihonto all together. Jon

John, Do they have an online catalog? Jon

Thanks for the replies. If it is cast, probably not worth saving. That was the main reason for my question anyway. Jon